After Va. Tech dismissal, Newsome lands on his feet at James Madison

HAMPTON — Curt Newsome doesn't talk around it or sugarcoat it. Getting fired stung. He took it hard. He took it personally.

But with the help of family, friends and coaching colleagues, he is back on his feet, with men he respects and admires in a familiar setting.

If last week is any indication, Newsome's new gig as James Madison's offensive line coach has energized him. The Peninsula native happily navigated the Hampton Roads Convention Center during the Virginia High School Coaches Association clinics, renewing friendships and building rapport with high school coaches whose players he hopes to recruit and teach.

"The biggest thing is, I'm at a place where I'm very comfortable," Newsome said. "Nobody's been better to me in the football business than Coach (Mickey) Matthews. He's a great guy to work for. I have a ton of respect for him. I'm familiar with Harrisonburg and James Madison. That's made this transition a lot easier."

Newsome was part of Virginia Tech's well publicized offensive staff overhaul following a sub-par 7-6 season. The offense struggled, costing Newsome, the offensive line coach, and quarterbacks coach and co-coordinator Mike O'Cain their jobs. Hokies head coach Frank Beamer also reassigned longtime assistant Bryan Stinespring.

"It's hard on your family," Newsome said. "But, I'm a happy person. I think that's important. There were times where it got tough. And the pressure came from ourselves, but it got tough in Blacksburg. If you're not performing up to your standards, it's tough in Blacksburg, it's tough in Harrisonburg, it's tough on Woodland Road."

Newsome had never been fired. Every move he made, from high school head coaching jobs at Kecoughtan and Heritage, to his first college stint at James Madison and then Virginia Tech, were jobs he pursued and landed, more or less, on his terms.

When Beamer told Newsome that he planned to make changes, Newsome admitted that he didn't take it well.

"I don't know if anybody handles it very well," he said. "You're kind of bitter at first, but you realize the business you're in. It's kind of part of it.

"Look at Andy Reid," Newsome said, referring to the Philadelphia Eagles coach who was fired after last season. "I think everybody believes he's still a good football coach. It's just that wasn't the right situation. Other things dictated change. Initially, it's very hard."

Newsome half-joked that in the days after he was fired, "I kind of went under a rock."

He said that Hampton High coach Mike Smith, a longtime friend, offered plenty of encouragement and helped stir him him from his funk.

In the meantime, Matthews pondered staff changes, as well, after a 7-4 season in which JMU missed the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. He was unhappy with the offense's progress and wanted to make changes tailored to the passing abilities of young quarterback Michael Birdsong.

Hiring Newsome, he said, was a no-brainer. Newsome coached with Matthews at JMU from 1999-2005, including the 2004 national championship season, and landed a slew of quality recruits – many from Hampton Roads.

"Curt, in my opinion, is the most admired coach in the state," Matthews said. "He has many friends down here in the Tidewater area, for all the obvious reasons.

"We call him 'Elvis,' because when you drive around the Peninsula area, every time you stop at a red light, there's people waving at you. You go throughout the state, he gives you instant credibility whatever high school you walk into, if he's representing your school, because he's so respected throughout the state. … He has a lot of friends wherever you go."

Newsome said that when he spoke to Matthews and learned that JMU had an opening, "I knew where I wanted to be. I wanted to be with him. As I said before, nobody's been better to me. He's a guy I have a ton of respect for and familiarity."

Matthews also needed a new coordinator. When a move to bring in passing guru Hal Mumme fizzled at the last minute – Mumme instead hooked on with June Jones at SMU – he convinced O'Cain to come in as coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Both have paid immediate dividends, Matthews said. He has long admired O'Cain's play-calling, and he likes his even demeanor and the way in which he tutors quarterbacks. Newsome is valuable, he said, in many ways.

"I think the biggest thing that Curt brings to the table is he's such a positive person," Matthews said. "He has a lot of pizzazz around the office. Any time you go by Curt's office around 12 o'clock, he always has four or five players in his office. He brings a lot in terms of staff morale. Players want to be around him. As an assistant, I never had that gift, where players wanted to hang around my office. He's very popular."

Matthews said that all spring and summer, a stream of people with Virginia Tech ties came through the football offices to say hello to Newsome.

"He's also one of the strongest X and O coaches I've ever been around," Matthews said. "He can coach anything. I think a lot of guys with high school backgrounds can do that. But I think he can coach anything. I'd feel comfortable having him coach anything for us."

Though he's no longer at an FBS program with national aspirations, Newsome said that the job and the standards remain the same.

"In my opinion, wherever football's important, you need to win," he said. "Football's important in Harrisonburg. It's important in Blacksburg. The actual pressures themselves of going into a season are the same everywhere, to me. There's no difference on a Saturday afternoon going out on the field, the importance of winning and losing."

One additional challenge of the move to JMU, Newsome said, is that his family is split temporarily. His wife, Melinda, and daughter, Elizabeth, will remain in Blacksburg so that she may finish her senior year of high school there. He has rented an apartment in Harrisonburg, so he imagines that he will wear a path along I-81.

Still, he admits that it's not as bad as it might have been, were he unable to remain in the state or not found his present position.

"I'm still a guy that enjoys recruiting," he said. "I'm still seeing guys that I coached against. I enjoy talking to people, and I enjoy coming home. If I can stay in this business until I get out on my terms, that's definitely my plan."